Fasteners 101

I’ve been out of school for a while now. For anyone who isn’t, just know you actually aren’t done with exams once you receive your diploma. Since I’ve joined the workforce, I’ve taken exams for everything from knowledge on insurance terminology to email marketing best practices. Even being as old as I am, I am still looking for a “Good job!” sticker on my tests (scratch and sniff preferred).

Since joining the fastener industry, I’ve attended crash courses on everything fasteners. What was my knowledge before these classes? I was confident when putting a piece of IKEA furniture together that you need to use all the screws. I also knew that wood glue is not really a suitable alternative to fasteners, but that’s a story for another day.

So, for several days, I spent a lot of time with our resident expert, Kevin Connolly, just talking nuts and bolts. As you’ve probably seen from our Ask the Expert series, this man has an immense knowledge of fasteners. He can literally talk about them for hours, and I learned I can literally take notes for hours. In one corner we have Kevin, sharing everything you ever wanted to know about fasteners and me in the other, furiously scribbling notes. My once neat handwriting, turning unibomber.

Earnest Machine prides itself on outstanding customer service, and we want everyone here to be able to understand what we are selling. In order to do that, we all take an exam regarding fastener knowledge. And though it’s multiple choice, it’s not an easy exam. “Why are they all just a little bit different??” “Why do we still use inch while the rest of the world uses metric??” These are just a few thoughts in my head while taking the test.

But it’s important and It’s all extremely relevant. I recently watched the video from Red Bull Racing on the story of a single bolt, which speeds up the process from conception to execution of creating a bolt and then shows how it fits in the Formula One car. So yes, all these nuts, bolts, and screws are in the same family. On the surface, they do look similar, almost the same, but they’re used in many different capacities so customization is crucial.

Ultimately, I’m glad Earnest takes the time to ensure employees are prepared to discuss product. Specifically for me, If I’m going to create a narrative, I need to know what these parts are and their use.